The Porsche Mission E Is Still Missing in Action, Yet Porsche Hints That There Could be a Coupe and Convertible in the Cards

Will Porsche Succeed where Tesla has failed?

The Porsche Mission E is ready to hatch, and while we didn’t get to see it as expected at the Geneva Motor show, it should debut in the very near future. When Porsche showed up at Geneva with the Mission E Cross Turismo Concept it hinted that a Mission E SUV might be a possibility in the future. Shortly after it debuted, however, Porsche’s Head of EV Development – Stefan Weckbach – put that hope to bed, saying that the Mission E J1 platform wouldn’t work well for high-floored vehicles like SUVs. He did, however, mention that other body styles may be a possibility in the future.

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What Body Styles Can We Expect from the Mission E in the Future?

While an SUV is definitely out of the cards, and the E Cross Turismo concept isn’t likely to see the light of day anytime soon, Weckback did hint at some other possibilities

Porsche built the Mission E J1 platform all on its own, and because it was designed for a specific purpose, there isn’t a lot of room for it to grow. The Audi/Porsche PPE platform, on the other hand, will be able to accommodate various body styles, which most likely includes sedans, coupes, and SUVs. Until then, any full-electric car that Porsche decides to build will have to be on the J1 platform. That gives the brand a minimum of 3 to 4 years to make the best of what it’s got. While an SUV is definitely out of the cards, and the E Cross Turismo concept isn’t likely to see the light of day anytime soon, Weckback did hint at some other possibilities:

“If you talk about two-door cars or convertibles, the platform will be ready for that.”

So, with that in mind, a coupe and a convertible, while not anywhere near confirmed, is quite likely to come to life in the next few years. After all, the Mission E is a make-it-or-break-it model, and Porsche has spent a small fortune on the J1 platform. So, you can say it’s a near certainty that we will see more than just the Mission E sedan come out of this platform. But, that’s not the only news.

Not all versions of the Mission E – think coupe and convertible – will necessarily have two permanent magnet motors

See, the Mission E is set up as an AWD setup with two permanent magnet motors. But, not all versions of the Mission E – think coupe and convertible – will necessarily have both motors. This leaves the door open for rear-wheel-drive performance, but only if Porsche can manage to tame the beast and continue to offer the right performance, and energy recuperation without hampering handling. That’s important because Porsche has boasted its “repeatable performance” recently when bashing Tesla and it relies on both motors for regenerative braking.

“We try in the Mission E to regenerate as much power as possible, but we need to have the car stable,” said Weckbach, also mentioning that the brand had learned a lot from the Porsche 919 Le Mans car. It was also said that the most powerful version of the Mission E would have AWD and “almost the same” weight or be “a little heavier” than the Panamera.

It’s not a whole lot to go on, but given the amount of time and money invested, Porsche will step it up with the J1 platform before it goes defunct. That PPE platform will be out in the early 2020s, so Porsche needs to capitalize on the J1 platform while it can. If the platform can remain largely the same, it shouldn’t be hard for the brand to slap different bodies down as needed. A Mission E Coupe? Yeah, we can get behind that.